RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  02-01912
            INDEX CODE:  108.00
            COUNSEL:  NONE
            HEARING DESIRED:  NO

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

Consideration be given to correcting her husband’s records to show  he  was
retired because of disability rather than for length of service.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

Her husband’s death was service-connected based upon the fact that he had a
cancerous lump near one of his eyes as well as having high blood  pressure.
Some of the countries that her husband served while on  active  duty  i.e.,
New Guinea, Biak and Tokyo, may have contributed to  his  death.   She  has
been fighting the system for over  20  years  for  benefits  she  adamantly
believes  are  due  to  her.   She  has  gone  the  route  with   Senators,
Congressmen, the Veterans Administration (VA), and  the  Inspector  General
and was recently  advised  that  in  order  to  receive  consideration  for
benefits, her husband’s reason for retirement must be for medical  reasons.
She and her husband spent 23 years defending this great country  and  feels
it has gotten to the point of being almost degrading that the  widow  of  a
veteran must fight  these  many  years  in  an  attempt  to  receive  these
benefits.  If she had known years before about this, she  would  have  made
this request much sooner.

In support of her  application,  the  applicant  provides  a  copy  of  her
spouse’s death certificate,  a  copy  of  the  Disabled  American  Veterans
Informal Hearing Memorandum, a copy of her VA application for  compensation
or pension, and medical documents and correspondence  relating  to  her  VA
claim tabbed 1-10.  The applicant’s complete submission, with  attachments,
is at Exhibit A.

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The former member’s service history record indicates that  he  enlisted  in
the United States Army on 27 September 1940.  On 11 May 1942, he accepted a
commission in the Army of the United States and continued  to  serve  until
his retirement.  He was assigned to the Retired Reserve Section and  placed
on the USAF Reserve Retired list in the Reserve grade of lieutenant colonel
effective 1 January 1964.  He was credited with 23 years,  3 months  and  4
days of active service for retirement.  He was credited with  23  years,  3
months and 4 days service for basic pay in the grade of major.

The remaining  relevant  medical  facts  pertaining  to  this  application,
extracted from the applicant’s military medical records, are  contained  in
the letters prepared by  the  appropriate  offices  of  the  Air  Force  at
Exhibits C and D.

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The BCMR Medical Consultant recommends the application be denied.  The BCMR
Medical Consultant states that the former member’s service medical  records
reflect a history of basal cell carcinoma of the skin located on his  right
lower eyelid treated in 1956 and followed by  dermatology  for  five  years
without  evidence  of  recurrence.   An  April  1960  hospital  report  for
hemorrhoid surgery recorded his blood pressure as 154/84, mildly  elevated.
His retirement physical examination  documented  a  mildly  elevated  blood
pressure of 142/84.  While on active duty hypertension was not diagnosed or
treated.  Following retirement  from  the  Air  Force,  the  former  member
developed  sustained  essential  hypertension  controlled   by   diet   and
medication.  The BCMR Medical Consultant states that although  hypertension
is listed on the death certificate as an underlying cause to death, it  was
not the cause of his death.  Had the former member  not  developed  cancer,
his ultimate death many years later may have been due to causes related  to
hypertension such as stroke, heart attack, heart failure or kidney failure.
 Essential hypertension does not cause cancer.  His basal cell carcinoma of
the eyelid in 1956 is unrelated to his subsequent lung cancer.   This  skin
cancer does not spread to other areas of the body and there is no  evidence
that the former member had lung cancer at the time of his retirement.   The
BCMR Medical Consultant’s evaluation is at Exhibit C.

AFPC/DPPD recommends the application  be  denied.   DPPD  states  that  the
former member’s medical records include a retirement  physical  examination
conducted on 29 July 1963 that shows he was found qualified for  retirement
by the Air Defense Command Surgeon General.  Members who have  an  approved
length of service retirement, except for individuals previously  determined
unfit and continued in a permanent limited duty status, must  overcome  the
presumption of fitness during their last year of active duty.   A  member’s
continued performance of duty once a retirement date is approved creates  a
rebuttable presumption that his or her medical conditions have  not  caused
an early career termination.  The former member’s records clearly  show  he
was fully capable of performing his military duties right up until the date
of his retirement, and that his medical  conditions  did  not  curtail  his
military career.  The AFPC/DPPD evaluation is at Exhibit D.
_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

On 4 September 2002, in response  to  a  SAF/MRBR  request  for  information
regarding her husband’s service medical records, applicant submitted a  copy
of the medical care and clinical record from the USAF Hospital covering  the
dates 14 November 1969 to 12 December 1969.  A copy of  this  letter  is  at
Exhibit F.

On 4 November 2002, the applicant requested that  her  case  be  temporarily
withdrawn (See Exhibit G).

On 9 December 2002, applicant requests her case be reopened and states  that
on her husband’s death certificate it  lists,  “essential  hypertension”  as
“due to, or as a consequence of” in  the  cause  of  death  block.   In  any
event, essential hypertension is an  “other  significant  condition,”  which
certainly contributed to his death and numerous  findings  in  autopsy  show
damage related to hypertension.  Applicant’s letter is at Exhibit H.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT:

1.  The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided  by  existing  law  or
regulations.

2.  The application was not timely filed; however, it is in the interest  of
justice to excuse the failure to timely file.

3.  Insufficient relevant evidence has been  presented  to  demonstrate  the
existence of  error  or  injustice.   We  took  notice  of  the  applicant’s
complete submission in judging the merits of the case and  do  not  find  it
supports a determination that the former member’s  record  be  corrected  to
show that he was retired because of disability rather  than  for  length  of
service.  Based on the evidence  of  record,  it  appears  that  the  former
member’s cancerous lump located on his right lower eyelid was treated  while
on active duty without evidence of recurrence and, according to the  Medical
Consultant, is unrelated  to  his  subsequent  lung  cancer.   Additionally,
although hypertension is listed on the  death  certificate  and  the  former
member’s retirement physical examination documents a mildly  elevated  blood
pressure, there is no evidence  indicating  hypertension  was  diagnosed  or
treated while on active duty.  More importantly, in  order  for  the  former
member to qualify for disability retirement or separation, it was  necessary
that a finding of unfitness be reached at the time of his retirement.   Even
if it  could  be  determined  that  the  medical  conditions  cited  by  the
applicant were incurred while the former member was serving on active  duty,
this, alone, would not establish an entitlement to disability separation  or
retirement.  Neither does the record reveal, nor has the applicant  provided
any evidence that would indicate  that  the  former  member  was  unable  to
perform his duties because  of  physical  disability  at  the  time  of  his
release from active duty.  Accordingly, in view of  the  above  and  in  the
absence of  evidence  to  the  contrary,  we  agree  with  the  opinion  and
recommendation of the BCMR Medical Consultant and  adopt  his  rationale  as
the basis for our conclusion that the applicant has not been the  victim  of
an error or injustice.  Therefore, we find no compelling basis to  recommend
granting the relief sought in this application.
_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT:

The applicant be notified that the evidence presented  did  not  demonstrate
the existence of probable material error or injustice; that the  application
was denied without a personal appearance;  and  that  the  application  will
only be reconsidered  upon  the  submission  of  newly  discovered  relevant
evidence not considered with this application.
_________________________________________________________________

The following members  of  the  Board  considered  this  application  AFBCMR
Docket Number 02-01912 in Executive Session on  16  April  2003,  under  the
provisions of AFI 36-2603:

      Mr. Roscoe Hinton Jr, Panel Chair
      Ms. Brenda L. Romine, Member
      Mr. Steven A. Shaw, Member

The following documentary evidence was considered:

     Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 4 June 2002 w/ atchs.
     Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
     Exhibit C.  Letter, BCMR Medical Consultant, dated
                 25 September 2002.
     Exhibit D.  Letter, AFPC/DPPD, dated 7 October 2002.
     Exhibit E.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 11 October 20021.
     Exhibit F.  Letter, Applicant, dated 4 September 2002.
     Exhibit G.  Letter, Applicant, dated 4 November 2002.
     Exhibit H.  Letter, Applicant, dated 9 December 2002.





                                  ROSCOE HINTON JR
                                  Panel Chair